Recently, I was listening to an interview with Craig Berube, coach of the St. Louis Blues hockey team. The interview covered how they've been able to stay very competitive and lead their division while enduring the absence of their most productive player, who underwent shoulder surgery in October. He said two things. “We have a well-defined system based on a high level of competition and our players have a clear understanding of their roles.” That resonated with me as I thought about how that applies to managing our agency teams. The fact that the club has a solid system of play enables them to identify the types of players who can thrive under the stress. And it gives each member of the squad an opportunity for success by following the system’s specs – which is a “North/South” approach with aggressive forechecking.  No worries if you don’t understand hockey terms – just know that every player understands what’s expected of them. Berube shared a story of talking with a young player who was having a bit of difficulty gaining success in the system because he hadn’t fully bought into it. His message to him was, “Look, you're a really talented player who belongs in the NHL. But here's the deal. You have to play within the system we have, or you'll just have to play for a different team.”  That’s a very clear message.  As agency owners we often fail in being clear with our teams about expectations. And think about how much easier it would be if our systems were well-defined. What if we provided a road map for team members to follow and meet those expectations? Why is it that we sometimes struggle with [...]

How many times, as an agency owner, have you been advised to stay out of the day-to-day of client work? Probably more than once. Scaling an agency requires owners to hire the right people, provide appropriate levels of leadership and then get out of the way to allow their team to do what they were hired to do – manage and grow client relationships. But that doesn’t mean you should be some mysterious figure to your clients; never to be seen or heard from again after you win the business.  It’s surprising how often that happens – not necessarily by design, but suddenly you may realize you can’t remember the last time you had any contact with your clients. I get it, you’re busy running the shop, chasing down new opportunities, handling a myriad of things that seem to take up more time than they should. It’s easy to lose visibility with those who signed on to have your agency help them meet their marketing challenges. Hopefully, you have rockstar account managers who are delighting clients and working with the rest of the team to deliver results that matter. And while that’s fantastic, always remember it’s your agency that’s delivering - you’ve set forth a clear vision and built an enterprise that’s sought after because of that vision. And that’s why you need to show your face occasionally to those who have placed their trust in the agency. They need to realize the agency is more than just that rockstar account manager … it’s an entire team of smart, marketing specialists creating results. And you need to make sure they know you care and appreciate the opportunity they’ve given the agency. I know, you’re wondering [...]